| Nagarhole |
| A Visit
Worth Remembering |
| September
2005
Our holiday
was nearing and the children were clamoring to go. Collectively we hit
on the idea of visiting the nearest tourist destination with a back to
the nature feel. The kids decided we should visit wildlife sanctuaries.
Out of the 400 odd sanctuaries, National Parks and reserve areas, we decided
to visit the one nearest to our hometown and with an economical cost. So
Nagarhole was it! The journey began at six in the morning, with a slight
mist and our eager heads popping out to see any wild animal by chance.
The tiger is shy of any human contact, but any animal sighting would have
been welcome.
Lady Luck
Missed Us By A Hair's Breadth! |
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The two biggest
animals that still roam the Indian wild are the elephant and the Indian
bison, known locally as gaur. For a guaranteed look at these magnificent
creatures in their natural habitat, then a visit to Nagarhole is a must.
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Yes, that was
the jungle we were roaming in in the early morning mist. In the three days
we spent in Nagarhole and, on the four early morning and late evening safaris
that we took, our only encounter with a tiger was spotting his fresh pug
- marks by the side of a stream. The elephants and gaur however, were less
bothered by our vehicle. |
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| The elephants,
often in herds, went about swirling the grass and leaves with their trunks
before devouring sizeable morsels.
Gaurs And
Their White Socks
We are so used
to seeing domesticated elephants, buffaloes and cows roaming around in
crowded streets. The gaur, with its hefty build, large horns and white
shanks can be seen in its majesty only in the wild. Not a single trip within
the jungle passed without our sighting these imposing animals with their
gleaming, blue-black skin. Sometimes they were at a distance but on a couple
of occasions they stopped grazing and stared up at us from just a few feet
away. Visitors are forbidden from venturing on foot into the jungles of
Nagarhole. The elephants and gaur are huge and wild and humans are no match
for them in their natural surroundings. |
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| Risky And
Swift
By far the
most visible animals here are the cheetal or spotted deer. These come and
graze right near the forest rest houses. The other ungulates, which thrive
at Nagarhole, but are shier than the cheetal, are sambhar, barking deer,
and the four horned antelope. The sightings are so rare that along with
species like tigers and panthers, the four horned antelope qualifies for
an entry in the sightings book kept at the forest lodge. Wild Boars, foxes
and wild dogs were two other species of which we had fleeting glimpses.
Occasionally, a gray jungle fowl would dash across the open ground lending
a dash of color to an otherwise drab landscape. And the more wooded areas
were colored with short flights of coucals and peafowl.
Birding
Is Restricted
Although we
were not allowed to go birding into the jungle, we had a fine time with
the birds just outside the forest lodge. |
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| Golden and
black-headed orioles, drongos, racket-tailed drongos, large green barbets,
spotted babblers, red-cheeked and red-vented bulbuls, crimson minivets,
and hoopoes descended on the trees and ground giving us a grand stand view
of avian activity.
Location
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Nagarhole, in
Karnataka, is really only one of the four contiguous sanctuaries in South
India, which span the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
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The other three
are Bandipur (Karnataka), Mudumalai (Tamil Nadu) and Wynad (Kerala).
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The topography
is generally the same in all these national parks: the topography of tiger
country.
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Two types of forests
dominate the region: The moist deciduous type is to the north and West
of Nagarhole while the dry deciduous type exists in the south and east.
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High quality teak
and rose wood trees are found here. Bamboo is also plentiful.
Accommodation
There are a
number of resorts or lodges and we stayed at Gangotri, the forest lodge
in the sanctuary. If you don't order your meals in time here, you have
to go to Kutta, which is the nearest town, about 7 kms away on the road
to Kerala. Animal safaris are in the early mornings and late evenings.
An enjoyable part of the day can be spent at the Irpu waterfalls, if one
has a vehicle. Irpu waterfalls is about another 7 kms from Kutta. The Rameshwara
Temple is at the base from where you have to climb for about a kilometre
before reaching the falls. The falls were quite impressive although it
was well past the monsoon season when we went there. But ultimately we
didn't see tigers. Even though we returned a trifle disappointed the memory
of the other majestic creatures remain etched in my mind even now. I hope
that if you ever happen to visit Nagarhole you're lucky enough to see the
royalty!
For More
Information On Accommodation, Bookings, How To Get There
http://www.webindia123.com/wildlife/parks/karnataka/nag.htm
.
The following
are the previous articles Manju wrote for the magazine:
To contact Manju
Click
Here
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